Inside the Most Meta ‘Treehouse of Horror’ Segment in ‘Simpsons’ History
All October long, Cracked is catching up with some of the greatest writers in Simpsons history to discuss the most beloved segments from the “Treehouse of Horror” series. From the cursed Monkey’s Paw to Krusto the Clown, we’re digging into the making of some real fan-favorites.
Season 34’s “Treehouse of Horror XXXIII” features perhaps the most meta “Treehouse” segment ever: “Simpsons World.” It begins with a clip from the legendary “Marge vs. the Monorail,” in which Homer is explaining to his family how the monorail works. The scene goes on as normal until Marge discovers a family of possums living on the monorail, and just as Homer is about to utter the classic line, “I call the big one Bitey,” two frat dudes jump in and say the line with him. They then pour beer down Homer’s throat.
It’s quickly revealed that this is a theme park where Simpsons fans can live out their favorite classic moments along with complex animatronics of the citizens of Springfield. It’s a parody of HBO’s Westworld that goes even deeper when one of the Homer robots becomes self-aware and escapes the park.
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The segment received rave reviews for its ambition and originality, as well as its meta commentary on what The Simpsons fandom has become — something the man behind “Simpsons World,” longtime showrunner Matt Selman, has lived for almost three decades now.
I recently spoke to Selman about the inspiration for the episode, the army of Ralph Wiggums it wrought and the heavy dose of nostalgia it delivers.
Breaking Ground on Simpsons World
“Simpsons World” was an idea I’d had for a long time. It must have been when Westworld came out. I put together an outline, and then the room wrote it. That’s how the show works, especially for a “Treehouse” segment. For example, Carolyn Omine produced “Treehouse of Horror XXXIII,” and she was a big fan of the Westworld TV show, so she brought a lot of specificity to it, like the gross, white Sideshow Mel coming out of the goo and all those different Lisas.
The audacious idea about “Simpsons World” is that it takes place in a reality that’s different from every other Simpsons episode, in that it takes place in a reality that you could somewhat call “the real world” even though it’s still animated. I guess there’s the end of that 3D Simpsons Halloween segment, where Homer is walking around in live action. You could argue that’s also the real world, but this was head-to-toe in “the real world.”
I really liked the idea that, with the show Westworld, it was such an extensive, immersive experience, that even if the robots don’t become self-aware and start killing people, the experience for the guest is pretty hardcore and traumatic in that you’re murdering and committing other unspeakable acts in a hyper realistic way. Who would want that? Only psychopaths and deviants.
However, in a Springfield world, who wouldn’t want that? If you’re a Simpsons fan, that would be amazing. Universal Studios is amazing, but just imagine it with high-quality Homers and Marges walking around living out different classic episodes, that would be crazy to experience and much less traumatic.
That was the exciting thing: “What if someone made a fun, reasonable version of Westworld technology for The Simpsons?” Then it goes awry with robot-y “What am I?,” “Who am I?” and “Am I alive?” kinds of sci-fi questions.
Mining Classic ‘Simpsons’ Moments
As a Simpsons fan first and brand-extender second, the thrill for me was to put in all the Easter eggs and love letters to classic moments. I made a list myself and the room made a list, and we went to the animators and said, “We want to jam all this stuff in.” We put in some later references too, but we thought, if anyone really made this park, it would be for the classic years. We were like Homer in the Land of Chocolate, which is also something we put in.
The ‘Real People’ in Simpsons World
There was a lot of debate internally about whether or not the guests had five fingers or four fingers and whether the caucasian guests had pink skin or yellow skin. I thought, because this is the “real world,” all the people who visit and work at the park would have five fingers and pink skin. But when they’re actually in the park, Caucasian guests have yellow skin. We included a “Simpsonizer” machine in there that sprayed them yellow.
The Army of Ralphs
Everyone adores Ralph so much that he can almost do no wrong. So for the Ralphs to be the police of this insane Simpsons world felt fun. Also, killing a bunch of Ralphs isn’t that sad because he’s so relentlessly optimistic.
The Actual Real World Response
The response to “Treehouse XXXIII” was terrific. People couldn’t even agree on what their favorite segment was. The first one was a really great modern horror thing. The second was the anime segment everyone lost their minds for. Then there was “Simpsons World” as the ultimate nostalgia love letter to the show.
We should have ended the show right there — I’m kidding! I don’t mean that. I do think though, if Simpsons World was real, it would be very successful. If you could build a park with that much Simpsons shit going on all the time — and not blowing your brains out or assaulting you like in Westworld — it’d be a very successful park.